


Synthetic

by EMotionL



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-07 09:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20307388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EMotionL/pseuds/EMotionL
Summary: Drax, who’d been sitting beside Mantis and excitedly waiting, rubbed his hands together, “What we use it on doesn’t matter. I wanna see what it can do.”Mantis bounced up and down beside him, “Yes! I also want to know what the weapon can do!”Markus planted his feet firmly as it charged up, his arm feeling a bit tingly as it did.“Firing in three...”He took aim at a tree a little ways in the distance.“Two...”He steadied him arm, holding on hand on top of the gauntlet.“One...”He closed his eyes.“Fire!”





	1. Initial Test

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’ve been making this as a little side-project whenever I’m not feeling up to adding to one of my other things, and I’ve actually grown pretty proud of it.
> 
> The character of Markus is one I made when I was first starting, and he’s kinda just stuck with me since.
> 
> This fic is gonna be short, but I’m happy with it.  
Enjoy :)

“Markus, explain to me again why we’re on an uninhabited planet in the middle of nowhere, and we’re all standing around here while you tinker with your gauntlets?” Gamora asked, crossing her arms as she leaned against the side of the Benatar.

Markus had landed them there while everyone was sleeping, having made a breakthrough in his research, and wanting to show it off, “I’m not ‘tinkering’, Gamora. I’m putting the finishing touches on a prototype weapon that will help us if we ever come across anything that’s more than we can handle by traditional means.”

Peter raised a brow at him, “What kinda weapon are we talking about here, Markus?”

“And more importantly.” Rocket came up beside Markus, “Can I use it to blow up a moon? Or even just a really big asteroid?”

Markus’s gauntlet closed its wiring, and he stuck the tool he’d been using in his pocket, “If we’ve done this correctly, and I know we have, we could potentially use it to blow up planets.” Rocket’s eyes lit up, so Markus added, “And _I_ will be the only one who can use it.”

“Aw...”

Gamora stood up straight, “What in the universe could we be fighting that would require that kind of firepower?”

Markus shrugged, “That Abelisk was a pain in the ass.”

He heard Nebula, who was seated behind him, mutter to herself their true target’s name, “Thanos...”

Drax, who’d been sitting beside Mantis and excitedly waiting, rubbed his hands together, “What we use it on doesn’t matter. I wanna see what it can do.”

Mantis bounced up and down beside him, “Yes! I also want to know what the weapon can do!”

Markus motioned for everyone to step back, before taking an energy core from his belt and loading it into the top of his left gauntlet. He slammed his hand down on the core, and locked it into place, causing the device to hum to life. Exhaust ports formed on the sides, something he’d specifically built in, in the event of recoil or energy feedback.

The end of the gauntlet formed into a large cannon barrel, the end of which started to glow a bright, teal colour.

Markus planted his feet firmly as it charged up, his arm feeling a bit tingly as it did.

“Firing in three...”

He took aim at a tree a little ways in the distance.

“Two...”

He steadied him arm, holding on hand on top of the gauntlet.

“One...”

He closed his eyes.

“Fire!”

_ **reeeeeee-BOOOOOOOOOM** _

The resulting bolt of energy launch from the gauntlet at breakneck speed, flying completely past the tree and off into the distance.

“Well...” Rocket started, “I think you need to improve your aim.”

_CRACK_

**BOOM**

A mountain that was at least a couple dozen miles in the distance exploded violently, throwing giant chunks of earth and rock into the air.

Rocket looked at the spectacle in awe, the only thing he was able to say being, “Whoa...”

Markus dropped to one knee, nearly falling over before Nebula caught him, tearing the energy core out of his gauntlet before it did any more damage to him.

The core looked like it’d been put through a Xandarian industrial shredder and dunked in acid.

Nebula contained it in a device she’d designed for that exact purpose, and held his face to make sure he was alright.

He looked drained. Like the blast had taken from him rather than the core. He smiled regardless, “Told ya it would work.”

Nebula’s normally void expression shifted to a tiny smile that only he could notice, “Consider me impressed.”

Markus looked at his gauntlet, or the smouldering, severely damaged remains of it, “I’m gonna have to fix that.”

As Nebula helped him to his feet, Gamora stepped forward, shock as ever present on her features as it was on everyone else’s, “Markus, what the hell was that?”

“That, is a prototype Infinity Cannon. It replicates the power of the Infinity Stone we encountered with Ronan. Given enough time and information, I think we’ll be able to not only finish this one, but create something that could replicate the other Infinity Stones as well.”

Peter’s eyes widened, “Are you insane?! That thing nearly killed us all when we shared it’s power! Now you’re gonna use it on your own? Look what one shot did to you, you can’t even stand without Nebula’s help!”

Markus’ eyes felt heavy. Apparently the blast had taken more out of him than he’d realized, “I just gotta... gotta, re... re-enforce... the core chamber...”

The world went black as he passed out, leaving Nebula to keep him upright.


	2. Repair and Reconfigure

When he came to, Nebula was sitting at the left side of his bed, working on his gauntlet with a concentrated look on her face.

He smiled, deciding to watch her work for a while instead of alerting her.

He watched her eyes dart from piece to piece as she repaired the device, and he could hear the metaphorical wheels turning in her head as she figured out not only how to fix it, but also how to improve upon it.

He loved the sight of her biting her lip when she got focused, and the slight sound of frustration and simultaneous determination when she made a mistake.

Not that she did that very often.

He noticed another detail as his eyes wandered over her. As she was working, she used one hand for most of it. While she did, the other was holding his. She softly gripped his fingers in her hand, running her thumb absentmindedly over them while she worked.

He smiled, gently closing his hand around her own. She didn’t pause from her work, continuing as she spoke, “The shot overheated the core chamber and fried most of your circuits. I’ve been working to try and repair what I can.”

He chuckled lightly, “Is that all?”

“No.” She put down her tools, holding up his hand and pressing a button on his wrist to retract the metal and expose his skin, “There’s also this.”

His hand was near-charred. Like he’d stuck it in the ship’s thrusters for a hot second, “Shit... will I heal from it?”

She pressed his wrist again, and the metal coated his hand once more, “Your self-repair program was the first thing I fixed, and I’ve had it running since I did. It hasn’t changed since I started it up. That was two days ago” She held his hand tightly, “You could’ve died, Markus. Had we calculated it with just a tiny error, we could’ve killed you. You’re lucky that’s the worst of your injuries.”

He crossed his other hand over to hold it atop hers, “Nebula, don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But what if you’re wrong?”

He brought both their hands up to his mouth, kissing the top of her knuckles, “If Thanos is as strong as you say he is, then that’s a risk I’m going to have to be willing to take.”

She shook her head, “Then I can’t help you. I can’t work on this, knowing that you using it could take you from me.”

Markus day up in the bed, speaking softly, “Hey, look at me.” She didn’t meet his gaze, instead looking at the blanket that covered him. He took his hand from on top of hers, and tilted her chin up so she was facing him. She still looked elsewhere, “Nebula, look at me.”

She met his eyes, and he saw fear within them. 

Fear of losing him.

Fear of it not working.

Fear of something else being stolen from her by Thanos.

“I’m not gonna leave you. I’m doing this so that you can finally feel like you’re free. So that you don’t feel his shadow over you wherever you go.”

“Then we’ll find another way.” She held his hand up against her cheek, “I won’t let him steal anymore from me. Killing him isn’t worth the price of losing you.”

He shook his head, “You said it yourself. Nothing else we could make is strong enough to kill Thanos. This is our only shot.” He chuckled at a though, “And besides, it’s not like I couldn’t get cybernetic limbs like yours.”

The glare on her face told him he’d said the wrong thing, and she threw his hand down on the bed, getting up and angrily walking a few steps away, “Don’t even joke about something like that.”

He raised a brow, “Why? They’re not bad, Nebula. They’re just another part of you that I love.”

She glared harder, “Well I don’t! All they are to me are painful reminders of the years of torment that I went through from that monster. They are not things that bring me joy. They are not sexy. They are metallic, and bare and they do nothing but infuriate me!”

Anger like this wasn’t uncommon for her. Anger aimed at him, was.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him before he could get a sound out, “No! We’re not discussing this further! You want help with your repairs, you get the rat to do it!” Then she stormed put of his room, leaving him to deal with the busted state his gauntlet was in.


	3. Precautionary Measures

It was a week before Markus was able to get out of bed and go around the ship. Not that he was physically incapable. Just that Gamora would’ve flayed him alive if he tried before she said so.

Nebula hadn’t come back to see him. He’d originally feared that she’d left the ship entirely, but Gamora and Peter both assured him that she was still onboard.

Though neither would tell him where.

True to her word, she was not going to help Markus with the repairs he needed. So, he got Rocket’s help instead.

“Okay, I think I’ve almost got it.” Rocket told him, clicking a panel back into place in the wall before walking back to the table, a piece of tech in his hand.

“Did you just take apart part of the ship to fix my gauntlet?”

Rocket creased his brow like the answer was obvious, “Uh, yeah. I did. You want help or not? Cause I can leave you to it.”

Markus waved his hand, “No, no, it’s fine. Carry on. So long as we can still use our landing gear and acceleration, we should be good.”

Rocket shrugged, “If worse come to worst, Quill and I can probably get us landed safely so we can repair and replace stuff.”

Markus rolled his eyes, letting the talking rodent that was his teammate work on his tech.

“I am Groot.” The small, squeaky voice of the smallest Guardian came from by Markus’ elbow, where the living, baby houseplant was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling.

“I know, Groot.“ Rocket told him, pulling goggles over his eyes to shield them from sparks.

“I am Groot.”

“No. I am not stealing tech from Markus’ gauntlet like I did Quill’s mask.”

Markus raised a brow, “You stoke from Peter’s mask?”

Rocket shrugged, “A little. I replaced it later.”

“How much later?”

“I am Groot.”

Rocket pulled his goggles up again, looking to his kid, “It was not two weeks. You’ve got no sense of time, Groot.”

“I am Groot.”

Markus lightly poked Groot’s shoulder, “Hey. None of that language. What would Gamora think if she heard you talking like that?”

Groot sat up, looking up at Markus, “I am Groot?”

“Peter definitely didn’t say that was okay. Drax maybe, but not him.” Markus told him, and he shook his head, “At the very least, tone it down, yeah? Last thing Rocket needs is an angry Gamora bearing down on him.”

Rocket, who had resumed his work again, muttered to himself, “My fingers still hurt from the first time we met.”

A tiny growling sound came from Groot, and the small tree held his hands over his stomach, “I am Groot.”

Markus laughed, “How are you hungry? You just ate, like, ten minutes ago.”

“Can you call someone to bring him something? I’m nearly done here.” Rocket asked, and Markus pulled his coms up on his other gauntlet.

His brother’s face appeared on the screen, his hair slightly disheveled and his eyes droopy, _”Yo, Markus. What’s the deal? I was having a really good dream.”_

“Sorry for taking you out of it. Can you bring something to eat down to the lower level for Groot?”

Peter blinked, _”Why can’t Rocket-“_

“Because I’m busy trying to make sure that when your brother uses his Infinity cannon thingy, he doesn’t kill himself firing it. Now, do you want me to stop my work, potentially lose my place and risk Markus exploding? Or are you gonna get Groot a freakin’ pop-tart?”

Peter took a moment as he processed the wave of information that was just thrown at him, then nodded, _”Alright. Alright. Strawberry or chocolate, Groot?”_

“I am Groot.”

Peter made a ‘tsk’ sound, _”Sorry, little dude. Drax ate the last of the blueberry ones. We can get some more at the next stop.”_

Groot looked down, “I am Groot.” He said sadly.

_”Strawberry it is. I’ll bring you down some of Mantis’ sweet-powder too. Give it a bit more of a sugary feel.”_

“I am Groot.”

_“Awesome. See ya in a few.”_

The connection stopped as Peter hung up, and the hologram disappeared.

A few minutes later, Peter came down with a pop-tart on a plate, and a very small cup of light blue powder. Mantis’ sweet powder was almost exactly like sugar, with one key difference:

It only took a tiny amount for a four inch tall tree to become hyper enough to run around the ship for three hours at a time.

He put the food down beside Groot, who smiled up at him, “I am Groot.”

“No problem, little buddy.” Peter answered, then he looked to Rocket, “So? Where’re we at with this... thing?”

Rocket pulled his goggles up from his eyes, keeping his finger in the spot as he spoke to Quill, “The main containment cylinder is too weak to withstand the power of the blast.” He turned to Markus, “I can repair it enough that you can use the gauntlet, but if you plan on running more tests for the cannon, then I suggest you get some upgrades next time we’re on Xandar.” He clicked the button to open the metal and reveal Markus’ injuries on his hand, “Otherwise that is what your whole body will look like after two shots. Maybe three, if you’re lucky.”

Markus sighed, “Well, good to know that I’ve got a chance to get this working at least.”

A shuffling in the corner of the room got their attention, and they turned to see Nebula glaring at them from a few feet away. She said nothing as they noticed her, choosing instead to head to the upper deck.

The four of them watched as she disappeared before Peter and Rocket looked to Markus.

“You guys talk about this whole thing since your screaming match?” Peter asked, taking a seat opposite his brother.

Markus shook his head, “I’ve seen her twice since then, and she’s left whatever room we were in as soon as I came in.” He tapped his fingers on the table, “No, if she wanted to talk to me, she would. She’s still pissed about this thing.” He gestured to his gauntlet.

“As she should be.” Rocket muttered as he finished the last of his work.

“What?” Markus raised a brow. It wasn’t like Rocket to agree so quickly with anyone’s opinion other than Groot’s.

“Nebula should be pissed at you. You’re the only real, non-family connection she’s had to someone in her life, and you’re readily making a weapon that could kill you when you use it. It’s kinda selfish if you ask me.”

Peter and Markus both blinked at their teammate, the former whistling, “Wow. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Rocket is probably right.”

Markus looked between the two of them, “Who the hell are you, and what’ve you done with Rocket and Peter?”

“I am Groot.”

“No, I think they’d‘ve eaten us by now if they were Krondites.” Markus said, and Peter rolled his eyes, “Nope, that’s definitely Peter. He’s gained the ability to roll his eyes like Gamora.”

“Dude, seriously. Go talk to her about this.” Peter urged him, “She’s had your back since Ego, I’d hate to see something as small as this come between you two.”

Markus let a sigh out through his nose, “Yeah... yeah, you’re right.”

The wiring for his gauntlet closed up, and Rocket patted the metal, “Well, now that you’re not gonna explode, and you’ve come to terms with human emotions, I suggest you get on that. People like Nebs don’t come around all that often, and even fewer would put up with your shit.”

Markus narrowed his eyes at him, “Thanks for the pep-talk, coach.”

He got up and went to the higher deck, looking for his partner to hopefully smooth things over and get back on her good side.

Peter watched his brother disappear up the stairs, “She’s gonna stab him, isn’t she?”

“Probably.”

“I am Groot.”


	4. Unintended Fallout

Nebula was on her way to her room when she heard the footsteps behind her. A small glance let her know it was Markus, and she scoffed as she kept her pace.

“Nebula.”

She didn’t stop at his words, punching in the code for her door as he came up behind her. 

“Nebula.” He repeated.

Still she didn’t respond. She had nothing to say to him. She walked into her room, and he slipped in behind her.

“Nebula, you u can’t just give me a silent treatment forever.”

That’s where he was wrong. She was very, very stubborn and knew that she could make him break down and resort to begging if she wanted to.

“Rocket found what’d gone wrong. He said there’s a way to properly contain the power of the shot so that I don’t get hurt again.”

Damn him and his way of knowing how her mind worked. 

It was like his words flicked a switch, and she whirled around in him, “Contain it? You can’t contain it! It’s an Infinity Stone, you moron! Synthetic or not, it’s one of the most powerful artifacts in existence. In fact, it _is_ the most powerful artifact, because it’s a replication of the _Power Stone_!”

Markus reached for her hand, but she swatted his away, drawing one of her swords with imperceptible speed, and resting the tip against the underside of his chin, “Do not touch me.” She seethed.

Markus sighed, “Nebula, I know you’re angry, but-“

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Angry? You think I’m angry? I’m not angry.” She pressed the tip of her blade up to poke him, making him stand taller to avoid being skewered, “I’m fucking furious!”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she poked a smidge harder and he closed it again.

“The man with whom I have trusted my most vulnerable moments is actively trying to kill himself, even after I’ve already stated my piece about the risk not being worth the reward.” She poked even further, and Markus was on the tips of his toes, “And, to make things that much better, he tells me he’s doing this all for me. Imagine, try if you can, how that makes me look. How that makes me feel, that this man has some bullshit hero complex that makes him think that he needs to sacrifice himself in order to keep me safe! I keep myself safe! I have for years, and I will continue to do so until such a time that that is no longer an option. Do I make myself clear?”

Markus reached up slowly, pulling her blade down with two fingers as carefully as he could, “Extremely so.”

She lowered the weapon, but didn’t sheath it, “And?”

He bit the inside of his cheek as he looked away. His head shook as he met her eyes again, “I’m so close, Nebula. I can do this, I know I can. Safely and effectively. I just need your help.”

Nebula’s look of rage changed to one of hurt, “So, even now, after I’ve just revealed more to you than I have anyone else in my life, you still wish to do this.” She shook her head, “This is too much.”

She sheathed her weapon, pushing past him out of her room. He followed her, “Nebula. Nebula, wait. Where are you going?”

She didn’t answer him, instead going down the stairs to the lower deck, passing by Quill, Rocket and Groot.

She turned the corner towards the pods, and Markus did the same a moment later. She pressed the screen to unlock the door.

Markus’ hand landed on her shoulder, “Nebula, what are you doing?”

Still she didn’t say anything, turning around and activating his gauntlet. She pressed two screens, typing until one side opened and the nanotech inside solidified into the shape of a blaster, spitting out the weapon before closing again.

She clicked the gun to her thigh, turning away again and starting to get into the pod.

Markus gently grabbed her wrist to try and stop her, but she was not about to be stopped.

Her leg came up, colliding her heel with his chin and knocking him back as she drew her newly acquired blaster. She pointed it at his chest, pulling the trigger and sending enough of a stun blast to keep him on the ground.

She holstered the weapon again, climbing into the pod and sealing the door as Quill and Rocket came to Markus’ aid.

Nebula took one last, saddened look at him, wishing that things could’ve been different. Then she hit the release button, dropping the pod out of the ship and into space.

—————-—————-—————-———

”Are you okay, man?” Peter asked a little while after the ordeal.

Markus had recovered from the blast he’d been on the receiving end of, and was now in his seat in front of his console. His mouth was covered as he rested his chin in his hand. He was staring at the tracking screen for the pod that Nebula had taken.

Normally, the coordinates of the pod would be at the top of the screen, and a visual feed from the outer camera would be shown to help locate it better.

Now though, the screen was blank, with the words “**No Signal Detected**” blinking every couple seconds in big letters.

She’d deactivated the tracking systems.

“I was so fucking stupid.” He muttered, not taking his eyes off the screen. He uncovered his mouth, “I spoke without even thinking about what I was saying. I drove her away, and now I can’t even call her to apologize.”

“I mean, if she actually picked up, I could tell Gamora and she could talk to her?” Peter suggested, but Markus shook his head.

“No. I made this mess. I’ve gotta clean it up.” He got up from his chair, walking past his brother towards the lower deck, “I just hope all she needs is a little time.”

He went down the stairs, finding the space empty. He walked over to the large window in the back, staring out into the endless, black void of space.

“I hope you can forgive me.” He whispered, wishing that the silence around him could somehow carry his message to her.


End file.
